Pro31 Lesson 8
Proverbs 31:17
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
When I was a young pastors wife, I had a full plate of daily duties that overwhelmed me. I remember crying to another older woman in ministry and saying, “I just can’t dooooo all of this! It’s too much for me!” She looked at me calmly and said, “God chose you for this life, sure you can do it all. Stop thinking you CAN’T and start thinking how you CAN do it all.” I wiped my tears and thought to myself, ‘you just don’t understand.’ But in hindsight…. she really did understand and knew somehow I would grow in strength over time. Fast forward to today, and those tears were wasted for sure! Now sometimes I think I have the skin of a rhinoceros….. tough, sturdy, scarred, hardened and strong! Big difference as time, people, pressure and facing many strongholds has taught me much!
Let me show you what a few commentaries have to say about this verse. And then I’m going to tell you what my personal insight about this verse is…..
David Guzik Commentary says…..
She girds herself with strength: The virtuous wife is noted for her strength, and it is strength in action (her arms). She uses her strength for productive purpose.
The idea of “girding” one’s self—setting a strengthening belt around the midsection—“means to get ready for some ‘kind of heroic or difficult action,’ such as hard running (1 Kings 18:46; 2 Kings 4:29), escape from Egypt (Exodus 12:11), or physical labor (Proverbs 31:17).” (Waltke)
“She takes care of her own health and strength, not only by means of useful labour, but by healthy exercise. She avoids what might enervate her body, or soften her mind-she is ever active, and girt ready for every necessary exercise. Her loins are firm, and her arms strong.” (Clarke)
The Matthew Henry Commentary says……
She does what she does with all her might, and does not trifle in it (v. 17); She girds her loins with strength and strengthens her arms; she does not employ herself in sitting work only, or in that which is only the nice performance of the fingers (there are works that are scarcely one remove from doing nothing); but, if there be occasion, she will go through with work that requires all the strength she has, which she will use as one that knows it is the way to have more.
The Bible version called the English Standard Version says this…..
She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
This is what I have been impressed that this verse is talking about. After much study in the Word of God about the different lives and roles women have played I find the verse fulfilling in what she has been through and accomplished in her life.
This is not merely talking about the physical energy of a young woman, although in her youth she had plenty of that. But rather this is the lifetime record of the virtuous woman which entails her youth, childbearing age, midlife and older years of service in life. So to fully understand this passage let’s go back and talk about what in life would have made her strong.
Women endured many hard times in that era in history.
Some of her experiences would certainly have included, an arranged Marriage most likely a man she did not pick, Childbirth with no pain management, and lots of heartbreak over the loss of a child due to poor living conditions, Poverty. Hunger. Physical Work. Sickness. Age. Troubles. Weather hot/cold. Labor day by day. Cooking. Gardening. Planting fields. storing foods. training staff. training kids. schooling kids. making cloth. making clothing for the family. making money by selling items. husband issues. physical disease. deaths of loved ones.
All these issues certainly would have played into the development of her strength. She would have made some personal decisions that increased her inner fortitude and strength.
I can see the tears running down her face when she was young and vulnerable to life’s hardships. Her heart may have been broken by the disappointing actions of others. Her mind would have spent hundreds of hours going over and over what she could have done to prevent her own sorrows. Yet they happened and her levels of grief dug deep wells inside of her heart as she may have faced the death of a baby, the loss of her parents, the hardships of everyday life as a young woman. Over time the memories of pain and hurt would have become scars of determinate actions of prevention for her future.
She would have looked at her losses, and where she was at in life and made some decisions. If she was to survive the depths of pain and suffering, she would have had to become strong.
The deep experiences of life can lead us into strength that gives wisdom in the darkest days. The strength found in the heart of a woman didn’t get there because she was ‘just born with it’ , no she developed her strength BECAUSE of her problems and difficulties.
While others would fall under the load of personal struggle, she refused to give in, but resolutely keeps walking, keeps carrying on. Her chin is set, her mind is made up and while her heart may be sore, it’s not as bad as what she has already gone through in her past. So her decision to push on through comes from the strength that she turned her pain into….. from the background of memories gone by.
“She girds her loins with strength”
Who can simply talk about strong arms, when she was sweated down from carrying a baby, and a basket of vegetables and tools, and a water jug from the field where she had worked all day. This kind of strength isn’t physical. She had ALREADY set her mind to do the work. She had ALREADY made up her mind that this has to be done, so I’m going to get it done! She tightened the belt of self discipline around her mind and heart and it gave her strength to prevail over weakness, over sorrows, over the uncomfortable places in life. She was strong and had a fortress already built inside of her mind and heart and she was prepared for the problems she faced day by day. She had tightened her inner self with determination which gave her strength……. so she would have cried out to God alone….. then rose after prayer, tipped her chin up, held her shoulders back and faced whatever the days responsibilities held for her. Murmuring under her breath….
“Oh I WILL get this done…… I WILL complete this task….. I WILL overcome this mountain of work….. I WILL beat this problem…. “
Words that only women who have suffered greatly have the strength to say with authority. Why?
Because her past built the fortitude inside her and had made her now strong for the tasks at hand.
“And strengtheneth her arms”……
Any time ‘eth’ is used - it’s literal meaning is ‘keeps on, doesn’t stop’. So to say ‘strengthen-eth’ means to keep on adding strength to ones life.
The suffering you have been through that no one knows about, maybe it’s so deep and dark you cannot talk about it. This same issue does not have to continue to cause pain….. but one can learn to take that pain and turn it into strength!
You are not weak any longer! You are not vulnerable to the past issues that happened. Don’t re-live it another day!
Take that loss and turn it into wisdom. Take that terrible situation you went through and make it pay in the dividends of the real fruit of experience.
Stop talking about the emotional suffering you went through and turn that trial into positive actions in your today.
It’s not the ‘today’ you are living in….. it’s yesterday! And your tomorrow can be filled with the joy of making that dark time become the greatest knowledge you have to actually use it for good. Multiply your actions because of your experiences! Turn it all into power moves of strength!
I have been through some very tough experiences in life and have learned this by personal experience. So I can promise you that you can gird up your inner self with strength! Been through betrayals, suffered grave sicknesses, been through much loss of relationships and properties ….. way too many things to talk about here! Yet I’m here to tell you that God…. MY God supplied continually no matter what was thrown at us. No matter the losses He ALWAYS made our lives sweeter. He told me once, ‘The more they talk against you, the more I’m going to bless you’. And I am here to testify that He has…. over and over and over again and again!!!! His Word become my strength.
Strengthen-eth your arms! How can something good come out of what you went through? Take those hard times and turn them into a blessing through the promises of God.
First of all decide that it WILL. ‘OH I WILL MAKE SOME THING GOOD OUT OF THIS.’
Stop looking at the ‘end of the dream…. the end of it all. It’s never the end of the story when you serve God. What is your ceiling now, becomes the floor you walk upon tomorrow.
Write down the good that happened as a result of it.
Pray to God about the blessing that He will make out of this.
Accept His help and ideas to bring you to a new place in life.
Start turning the pain into power by strengthening yourself by doing these things.
Start girding your self….. tighten the belt of truth in your mind…..
When you feel vulnerable remind yourself of this…
PS 32:7 YOU ARE MY HIDING PLACE, YOU WILL PROTECT ME FROM TROUBLE AND SURROUND ME WITH SONGS OF DELIVERANCE.
When you feel like you are insecure, remind yourself of this…..
ISAIAH 50:7 BECAUSE THE SOVEREIGN LORD HELPS ME, I WILL NOT BE DISGRACED. THEREFORE HAVE I SET MY FACE LIKE FLINT AND I KNOW I WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.
When you are feeling alone remind yourself of this…..
MATTHEW 28:20 YET I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS TO THE VERY END OF THE AGE. (Jesus)
This strengthening of yourself comes because of one very important truth. And that’s this…..
Take your weak place to the Word of God, and replace it with scripture that fills that need.
Let me say it as plainly as I can….
How can you get strong when so much has come against you? By doing this…… as a Proverbs 31 Woman.
Spend some time in prayer alone before God.
Put the situation that has been draining you before God in prayer.
Ask God to reveal His word to you in this situation that will make you strong in Him.
Start reading your Bible and read until His Word FOR YOU stands out to you. There will be verses that seem to touch your heart and mind….. these are the ones the Holy Spirit is impressing upon your heart.
Take THOSE VERY VERSES THAT STAND OUT TO YOU AND PUT THEM IN YOUR heart. Put your name in each verse, memorize them, speak them over yourself. Believe His Word for you! Strengthen yourself with the Word, tighten up your heart, your mind, your very soul…..
So for me? This verse means so much more than a simple commentary on it for women.
Proverbs 31:17
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
Woman………..You are a weapon in the Hands of Almighty God…… strengthen yourself!
